


The Ups and Downs of Afterlife

by OwlGirl



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Blood and Violence, Crack, Female Pronouns for Grell Sutcliff, Funny, Grim Reapers, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Magic, Mentors, Minor William T. Spears/Grell Sutcliff, Multi, Not Serious, Office, Potions, Shapeshifting, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2020-09-01 11:51:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 18,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20257657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OwlGirl/pseuds/OwlGirl
Summary: Ronald Knox just graduated and became a full-fledged grim reaper. He starts working under the influence of two very different seniors. He learns the importance of collecting human souls and combat skills, as well as how to do the perfect makeup. (Useful, right?) Sometimes, his emotions overcome in making the right decisions, but everyone can improve at their job with time.Things get more complicated, when the British reapers have to face with demons.





	1. Mentor meetings (part 1)

**Author's Note:**

> The story takes place many years before the plot of Kuroshitsuji. The main focus is on our favorite reapers, mainly Ronald. (It's written in his point of view.)
> 
> I had some fun ideas and this slowly started forming in my mind. It's not a serious fic, I warn you!

It was nine in the morning, which in Ronald's case was too early to be up, but he had to visit the dispatch. After graduating with a B average, he finally became a full-fledged grim reaper, meaning he could start his work at the London branch.

He excitedly ran to the hall, looking at a board with many papers. Ronald quickly read them over to find his name. It took him a minute, although the names were listed in alphabetical order. (Typical. Grim reapers were so fond of the alphabet, they nearly made everything relying on it.) He got paired up with a reaper, named Spears to be his first mentor. He didn't know the man in person, but he had heard the name a few times.

Spears was a strict and ambitious man, who despised working overtime and emotions. In other words, he was a cold-hearted reaper. He didn't like making friends, only focused on his work and frequently punished his underlings with overtime.

Ronald hoped, Mr. Spears wouldn't be as strict to him as the others described. Perhaps he was in a good mood today.

Ron climbed the stairs to the third floor, his heart beating a bit faster, than normal. Maybe it was due to exercising, or was it the excitement of meeting his mentor? He wasn't sure. He ran through dull white corridors, until he reached the offices. Fixing his tie, he stopped in front of a door, William T. Spears written on it in capital letters. He knocked on the wooden frame to let Spears know, he was there. In that second, someone said 'Come in' in a bored tone.

Ronald slowly opened the door, looking inside the room. The office was big and too bright. All the walls were white with no decorations or pictures. A black haired man was sitting at his desk close to the window, some paperwork in front of him. His suit, hair and glasses were immaculate. He must have been a perfectionist.

"You're late." He said, looking up from the papers. He scanned the young man before him, frowning. "Have you overslept on the first day of work?" He wasn't impressed by Ronald, who was still awkwardly standing at the door.

"No Sir, I'm sorry." He said with a shy smile. He walked closer to the older man, reaching out his hand. "My name is Ronald Knox, nice to meet you."

The reaper took his hand, gripping it firmly. "I'm William T. Spears. Seems like I have the pleasure to be your mentor for the mext few months." He forced a smile on himself, his voice still bored. He looked like, he just ate a lemon.

The blond reaper noticed the only personal belonging in William's office, a framed picture. There were two people on the photo, one of them clearly was Mr. Spears. He was smiling and looked almost the same as in the present, except having a different hairstyle and completely dissimilar personality. He had almost looked normal back then.

The other person had shoulder length red hair and a wide smile with sharp teeth showing. She was standing close to William, one arm put on his shoulder. They were both dressed in black suits with the usual grim reaper dress code. It must have been the day of their graduation, Ronald thought.

"Knox, what are you gawking at? We have no time to waste!" Mr. Spears interrupted, scaring him a bit.

"Nothing Sir. I was just thinking about something." He admitted, lying a bit.

"We meet in the hall in ten minutes. Get ready and bring your death scythe. And don't be late again." William instructed Ronald, taking a folder in his hand.

"Can I ask where we are going?" The rookie asked, looking at his mentor in confusion. One of Spears' eyes twitched. He pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose, trying to ignore the nerve.

"We are going to the zoo. What do you think?" He raised his voice, suddenly becoming angry. He opened the folder, shoving it in Ronald's face and almost hitting him in the nose. "By any chance, do you happen to know what on Earth this is? Or have you been sleeping at class instead of paying attention?" He shook the pages a bit.

Ronald felt uncomfortable. He made a bad first impression and Mr. Spears already didn't like him. He tried to contain himself, being as polite as he could, not to make the situation worse, if it was even possible. "This is a to die list." He mumbled.

"Indeed, young man." He said mockingly, like he was talking to a dog or a small child. "Do you have a death scythe, or I have to lend you one?"

"I have a basic sickle, but I already designed my own modified scythe. It only needs approval from the higher-ups. Would you like to see it?" Ron told Spears, who was still unimpressed.

"Excellent. Not now." He stated coldly, glancing at his watch. "You have to hurry, Knox."

The soul collecting went easy, mainly, because William did the whole thing, lecturing Ronald all the time. He explained the most basic parts, acting like Knox was retarded. He even told him what a human was.

Ronald hoped, his mentor's attitude towards him would change with time. Eventually, Mr. Spears'd realize, that he wasn't an useless moron and he was capable of doing his job.

Ron knew, he would have to work hard to earn William's trust and respect, but he wasn't the one to give up easily. Challenges helped him to improve and he liked the look, people gave him, when they finally saw how wrong they were about the young man.


	2. Mentor meetings (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The crack begins...

Ronald hoped with all of his heart, that his second mentor would be normal or at least, a bit nicer than Mr. Spears. He walked to the board to read the name, crossing his fingers behind his back.

"Sutcliff." He mumbled to himself, thinking whether he had heard that name earlier, but it didn't ring a bell.

Then something, he was told came to his mind. One of the instructors at the academy had said, that Sutcliff once killed four demons alone and mentioned he had anger issues and no self control at all.

Great! Maybe he was even worse than Spears, who at least wasn't a beast.

He walked towards the common room to ask, where Sutcliff's office was. A bulky man with wavy light brown hair was sitting at a table alone, sipping his coffee from a funny mug. It was pink with hearts and 'Best Wife' written on it. That didn't seem to bother the reaper at all.

Ronald approached him, politely smiling. "Good morning! Do you know where Mr. Sutcliff's office is?" He asked. The man's calm expression quickly changed to something indescribable. He also almost choked, dropping the mug on the wooden table. It made a clattering noise, but didn't break, nor the beverage got spilled.

Ronald had no idea, why he acted suddenly so strange. Did he say something to offend him?

"Don't say that out loud! She might hear you." He whispered the second sentence, carefully looking around, scanning the whole room with his green eyes. He had a noticeable Scottish accent.

"Who? I'm just looking for Mr. Sutcliff, he's supposed to be my mentor." Ron explained, still not understanding the other reaper's warning.

"Well, it was nice knowing you kid. I'll miss you." The taller man said, sadly glancing at Ronald. "By the way, it's on the fifth floor, office 546."

"Thanks, Sir. Have a nice day!" The blond answered cheerfully, leaving the common room.

"You too, kid. If you manage to survive." The man mumbled. Ronald was already too far to hear his words.

Ronald found the room after a good five minutes of searching. It was located in a seemingly deserted wing of the dispatch, not many other reapers having offices there. He didn't meet anybody on his way on the corridors, and the whole place was unusually quiet. Was the separation on purpose, or did he manage to get lost?

However, he heard muffled crying and noticed a scrawny, young man sitting in a chair, close to Sutcliff's office. He walked closer to him, intent of comforting him.

"Sir, is everything all right?" Ronald asked, putting a hand on the reaper's shaking shoulder. He flinched at the sudden contact, revealing a small cut on the collar of his white shirt, along with a few drops of blood.

What the hell? Ron was shocked, but tried to keep calm. Maybe he cut himself while shaving in the morning and he didn't notice, he hoped.

"Yes..." The man said, hiccuping and wiping his eyes with a handkerchief. "I'm fine, thanks."

That didn't convince Ronald at all. The man clearly was not fine. Finally, he decided to leave him, in order not to be late again. He didn't want to see Mr. Sutcliff angry. From what he heard and saw, he wasn't sure if he would even survive the infamous reaper's fury. Definitely not.

He stepped to Sutcliff's door, 'Grell Sutcliff' written on it in red capital letters. (It kind of reminded him of a warning sign, that you saw on the streets.) What a strange name, he thought. Was he German or something else, he had no clue. Before knocking, the image of a dire warlord popped into his mind. The man was wearing a full combat uniform with bulletproof west and many weapons on his back and belt. The handle of a knife even sticking out of his black boots. He was standing on a pile of dead demon bodies, a bloody head held in his left hand and a death scythe in his right one. He had eyes cold as ice and a black beard, making him look like a modern reaper-pirate fusion. He was majestic and extremely frightening at the same time.

Ronald tried to focus on the task, instead of imagining not so useful things, but it was hard with his head usually in the clouds.

He managed to knock on the door, holding his breath, until he heard a high pitched voice. "Come in!"

He opened the door, glad that the voice clearly didn't belong to Sutcliff. The first thing he saw, was a big bush of red roses. As he stepped in, he noticed a pale reaper dressed in a black uniform. She had long, straight hair in a very extraordinary dark red color with bangs covering her forehead. Light freckles were visible on her nose and face. She was sitting at a writing desk, filing her nails. She looked strangely familiar.

"Good morning," Ronald said, surprised to see a lady in the office. "I'm looking for Mr. Sutcliff, is he here?"

The redhead tilted her head up to look at Ron, her eyes shooting daggers. She gripped the the nail filer in her hand. "Mr. Sutcliff, eh? Why does everyone think I'm a man? Can't a lady be a deadly efficient grim reaper?" She pouted.

Ronald gasped, trying to save the situation. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were Sutcliff. I..." Grell interrupted him.

"Don't try to talk your way out of this, kid. It's useless. You messed up." She stated, surprisingly not that angry anymore. "By the way, what brings you here?"

"You were assigned to be my second mentor, Miss Sutcliff." He answered politely.

"Honestly, I'm still surprised, they chose ME to be a mentor." Grell laughed, picking up a bottle of red nail polish. "They think I'm suitable to teach a newbie. It must be some kind of joke."

Ronald felt a bit disappointed, again. The dispatch was full of strange people and yet, he was lucky to get two of the worst kind to be his mentors.

"Can I ask you something, Miss Sutcliff?" He was still curious about the crying man. 

"Go ahead! I don't bite." Grell gave a big smile, some of her sharp teeth showing. Ronald suddenly remembered the photo, he saw at Mr. Spears' table. She was the same person as in the picture. Her smile gave it away.

So she and Spears had known each other for a long time. Interesting.

"What happened to the man outside?" Ronald pointed to the door.

Grell made a slightly disgusted face, rolling her eyes. "Is he still here? He asked me out on a date and I said no."

"He's bleeding." He said, concerned about the reaper's wellbeing. All of his colleagues were like a big, weird family to Ronald. He had no relatives, only them, though.

"Well, after I said no, he asked me why. I said it's not appropriate to ask out a lady, who's already taken. Then he just wouldn't leave, so I kindly requested him to go. He was so annoying, I couldn't stand it." Grell wrinkled her small nose. "And I threw some scissors at him." She finally admitted.

"Those ones?" Ronald's eyes found the pair of scissors stuck in the door frame, a small piece of white fabric hanging on them.

"Exactly!" She exclaimed, running in her high heels and taking them out of the wood with a yank.

The young reaper tried to convince himself, that this was completely normal, but he failed. The woman in front of him was a beast, even if she didn't look like one. In fact, she didn't look intimidating at all, except for her teeth.


	3. On the job

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before writing this chapter, I was like: okay, this is going to be a funny and silly story. Then I messed up and wrote an angsty part. I swear, it was completely unintentional! I'm sorry guys. Knowing my writing style, there will be more sad elements here and there.

Grell was so happy to find her scissors, that she seemingly forgot about Ronald. "Miss Sutcliff, don't we have to... you know, do something?" The young man asked.

She made a face like she was thinking, then took something out of her pocket. "Thanks for reminding me to do my makeup, dear. A lady can't go out all plain faced." She started putting red lipstick on her lips.

Ronald sighed. "I was thinking about something else. Maybe soul collecting?"

"Oh!" Grell slapped her own forehead with the palm of her hand. "What time is it?" She rushed to the writing desk, that was full of papers and other things, like makeup tools and leftover meals. She shoved the things to one side, frantically searching something.

"It's nine thirty." Ron stated, staring at the mess Sutcliff was making. After a few minutes, she proudly held up a red booklet. Grell opened it, scanning the page.

"Nine thirty five!" She exclaimed, quickly putting the notebook in the pocket of her suit and summoning her death scythe. It was quite a special tool, to be honest: a red chainsaw. Ronald stared at it for a few seconds, before his mentor interrupted. "We have to hurry, kid! You will have time to admire my personally modified scythe, after the job's done." She said, proudly putting her hand on the weapon.

Grell opened a portal in the center of her office, not caring about safety rules and they jumped through it. Using this mean of transportation wasn't Ronald's favorite, but it was the only way to get to the human realm. He wasn't good at opening portals by himself, although once, he managed to get back to dispatch alone. The first time he had summoned a loophole, it led him into the bathroom of an old lady, who was, unfortunately, having a bath at the time. He had almost fallen into the bathtub head first. He was lucky, his instructor noticed the fiasco and pulled him back, grabbing his arm. His classmates had laughed and called him a pervert for weeks. He didn't really care, though.

They arrived at a beautiful field with many colorful wildflowers and herbs. The sea was close, rumbling on the rocks in the bay. Ronald had to stare again. He couldn't help it, nature always fascinated him. He felt so free, as the wind blew his hair and clothes.

Grell motioned to a small cottage on the hill. Ron caught up with her. They paced to the small building, looking around. An old man was sitting in an armchair on the porch, gazing at the sea far away. He looked peaceful. He probably lived a long and happy life, being almost 90 years old.

Ronald took a quick look at his watch. It was nine thirty four, only a few seconds and the man would die. He didn't like seeing humans die, but it was part of their lives. Everyone who is born, eventually dies once, that's how it works.

The man suddenly clutched at his chest, the muscles in his face tensing. It only lasted a moment and he was gone. Grell poked at Ronald's shoulder. She walked to the porch, leaning against the railing like she was only there to watch. She gave her student an encouraging smile.

Ronald looked at her, confused. "You can do it on your own, it's not that hard. And don't forget the paperwork, that comes after." Grell mumbled, playing with a strand of her hair.

"All right, boss." He sighed, not so delighted. He approached the human, taking his sickle in his right hand and pushing the blade into his chest. The cinematic record was there, wildly waving next to the man's heart. It looked like a fish, swimming in water, only it twisted and spun in an unnatural shape. Ronald aimed at it with his death scythe to get it. As he separated it from the corpse, the 'film' started.

The first few pictures were about a boy, playing with other kids, probably his siblings. The next parts were a marriage proposal, wedding and happy moments the man and his wife shared. They had children, living on the beautiful hill together. The couple got older, their sons and daughter left the house. The records of a funeral came, which was interrupted by a great storm. The man stayed in the cemetery, the rain soaking his clothes. He didn't care, the agony of losing his wife was much worse, than a few drops of water. Years passed with loneliness in the cottage. He took walks, looking after sheep and sitting in the armchair as the time went on, making him old and empty, like a blank canvas.

The cinematic record ended.

A few tears gathered in Ronald's eyes, but he did nothing with them. He hoped, Grell didn't notice he was almost crying. He let the record fly into his scythe.

Miss Sutcliff stepped to him, handing him the red book and a pen. "Name: Jack Shepherd, born on the 21st of December, 1791. Died on the 7th of September, 1881. Cause of death: cardiac arrest. Nothing to note." He read monotonically, like a machine. He pressed the red seal onto a square at the upper corner of the page. "Completed."

Ronald gave the tools back to his mentor with a sorrowful expression on his young face. Grell looked him in the eyes.

"Good job, kid! Was this your first reaping?" She tried to sound cheerful, but Ronald could sense the sadness in her voice.

"Yes, at the exam, my partner did the job. I was there, ready to help him in case, the cinematic record would go berserk. Fortunately, it went fine." He stated with a shy smile.

"You know, I'm proud of you. My very first intern and all." She put her hand on Ronald's shoulder, patting it softly. "I think we deserve a reward, to cheer up a bit." She winked.

They didn't go back to the reaper realm, instead visited a small bakery in the heart of Glasgow. The place was simple in a cozy way. The sweet scent of many different pastries hung in the air.

"As a kid, I used to come here with my sisters. My grandparents lived in Glasgow and we often spent the summer here." Grell mumbled, biting her biscuit and smiling at the fond memories. "We didn't have much money though, so we hardly ever could afford to buy anything. Sometimes, we just stood by the shop window, gazing at the sweets."

At first, Ronald was surprised, that Grell talked about her past life so openly. Not many grim reapers liked to mention their human lives, it was more like a wound, they did not want to open. Some people's stories were too tragic to think about them. His was too.

"Miss Sutcliff, how do you manage to be so positive?" Ron asked, sipping his tea.

"Sometimes, this job makes me rather depressed. I try to focus on the beauty of life. Not my life, but the humans' I encounter. Some cinematic records are special and fascinating to watch." She said, glancing at the man in front of her. "Plus, I have my darling Will!" She chuckled. Her eyes were full of love and adoration.

Well, the last part was unexpected, Ronald almost choked on the tea. He put his hands on his mouth, coughing a bit. He didn't answer, instead put a chocolate biscuit in his mouth.


	4. Paperwork madness

It was Tuesday, which only meant one thing: working in the office all day long. In the London dispatch, all the documents had to be filled out and organized due to Wednesday, making the previous day a whole paperwork madness.

Some reapers, especially Grell Sutcliff liked to procrastinate things to the very last time, doing all of their paperwork at once. Of course, William T. Spears wasn't so pleased with that. He walked around in the building, visiting some troublesome colleagues, a frown on his face.

Ronald didn't get his own office yet, but had a writing desk next to Miss Sutcliff's. It was clean, only some pens and papers put on it. Compared to the mess his mentor had in front of her, Ron's table was quite alright.

Looking at the rubbish Grell kept on her desk, the idea of cleaning up came to his mind. The redhead was in the cafeteria, probably drinking coffee again. The third that day. Ronald thought, it would be a pleasant surprise for Miss Sutcliff, to come back to a better working environment. Maybe it would help her improve, too. He slowly walked to the mess of makeup tools, papers, mugs and plates, taking a plastic cup in his hand. There was still a little coffee in the bottom, but not in its normal liquid form. Yuck! He was sure, Grell wouldn't drink that later.

Ron was about to throw the cup out, when the door flung open, his mentor coming back with another mug in her hand. She glanced at the blond reaper, the smile disappearing from her face.

"Ronnie dear, what are you doing?" She asked warily. She was giving him a sharp glare.

"Helping you. Originally, I planned to surprise you, but you came back early." He laughed awkwardly, waving with his free hand. He felt the tension growing between him and his mentor.

"It's so kind of you, but I'm sure, I don't need help." She gave him a not so genuine smile, snatching the cup from Ronald's hand. Her sharp red nails lightly scratched him, but didn't draw blood.

"Yes, you do! Besides, Mr. Spears would be surprised to see your office all clean and neat." He grabbed the cup, the other reaper still holding it, too. Grell didn't give up, trying to pull it out of Ron's grasp.

"Ronald! Release it this instant! I'm your boss, so you have to obey me!" She growled, her eyes shooting daggers at the young man.

"I'm doing this for you, you have to understand!" He tried to shove Grell's shoulder, but it didn't help at all. The red reaper was too strong. He didn't understand how such a delicate creature could have so much power, and she was also one of the best fighters. He was sure, if Grell didn't hold back, he would be easily defeated in no time.

"How dare you act in such a terrible manner towards a fair maiden!" Grell screamed so loud, that probably all the reapers in the building could hear.

Ronald and his mentor didn't even notice, the door was opened and William T. Spears was standing behind them, looking like he wanted to murder someone, or in this case, them.

"What the bloody hell are you two morons doing, wasting our precious time with unnecessary and stupid games?" They heard the ice cold voice of their boss. Both reapers quickly turned around, dropping the cup in shock. William grabbed a handful of Grell's long crimson hair and forcefully pulled it, yanking her close to scold her more. She made a pained sound at that, but didn't seem to protest. "Sutcliff, why do you always make me disappointed? Can't you learn from your mistakes?" The senior reaper asked bitterly.

Grell uncomfortably squirmed, trying to free her hair from William's iron grip. "I'm sorry, Will darling." She said, sounding small and vulnerable.

Ronald saw William's scary and serious face soften, if only for a moment, but it happened. Then his face was grumpy again, like always. "I'm not your darling. I am your boss and I want you to respect me. Are we clear?" He demanded, finally releasing Grell's mane. The woman nodded, before putting her hand on the sore spot, where her supervisor hurt her.

"Knox, you and Sutcliff get two hours of overtime. I expect you to finish all your paperwork due to nine." He was about to walk out, but suddenly, he turned back. "And clean up the mess on your desk, for God's sake!" He shut the door with a loud thud.

Ronald would have liked to give Grell his 'I told you so' look, but the redhead just stood there, staring at the door. He felt bad about the situation, he got her into, only because he had been too stubborn.

"I'm so sorry I got you into trouble, Miss Sutcliff." Ronald said regretfully, as he went to collect the cup and put it back on Grell's table. "I promise, I'll work harder and won't disturb you."

She was still facing the other direction, crying quietly, or was she chuckling... He couldn't tell. With time, it turned into louder snickering, then hysterical laughing.

"Are you all right?" Ron asked, his eyes rounded in shock. Why was this reaper so strange? Did Mr. Spears hurt her, that made her get some kind of panic attack?

"He always acts so cold-hearted with me, when others are around. But when we are alone he's a lot nicer. He just likes to play the big boss here." Grell said between laughs. "I know how it works, I was an actress."

The supposed relationship, his mentors had certainly wasn't the healthiest, Ronald was sure, but he didn't have the intention to dig into their personal lives. It was none of his business, what the other reapers did in their free time.

Grell walked to her desk, freeing enough space for the papers by pushing the things to one side. She sat down in the chair, like everything was fine. For a long hour, she was silently doing her job, only looking up at the clock every now and then.

Ronald also filled the forms, astonished to see Miss Sutcliff work, like he'd never seen before. So, she was capable of concentrating. That was a good thing. Though, it was strange, that she had to be scolded first to actually do her work.

They finished half an hour before nine, but they had to wait for William. To spend the remaining time usefully, Ron took out his death scythe design from his bag to show it to Grell.

The redhead studied the sketches for five minutes. The young man held his breath, excitement bubbling in him. Grell was the first to see his plans and it was important to him to get positive feedback.

"To be honest, I'm quite impressed." She stated, proudly glancing at her intern. "But I have some doubts about the basic design." She added.

"Did I draw something in the wrong way?" Ronald raised his eyebrows, as he browsed his sketches.

"No, it's nice. The problem is, this weapon is only suited for use, if you attack from above the target." The older grim reaper explained.

"Well, I thought about that. In that case, I can just pick it up by the handle and hold it to the target." Ronald imitated the moves, picking up the chair beside him.

"Watch it! You almost hit that mug." Grell snatched one of the things from the table, putting it somewhere safer from the enthusiastic young man.

"Sorry, boss!" He carefully put the chair back. "Do you think general affairs will approve?"

"It depends on how much of your charm you use." The redhead chuckled, grinning like the Cheshire Cat from Lewis Carroll's novel. "When I went there I had to take off my..."

"Please no!" Ronald loudly sighed and covered his ears with the palm of his hands. "I don't want to know that!"

Grell glanced at him with a disappointed expression. "What a pity. Truly it is."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this story! Kudos and comments are always appreciated. :)


	5. Demon crisis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited to finally introduce you to my grim reaper OC. Her name is Clara Devin and she's based on... you probably know who. She has some badass powers and a sassy attitude.
> 
> Warning: This chapter contains blood and violence.

A whole day off, without exhausting work and dealing with strange people. It was too good to be true!

Ronald was so glad to finally sleep as long as he wanted, or he thought so. It was ten o'clock in the morning and he was peacefully snoring in his comfortable bed, when the phone rang.

"Crap." He mumbled, pulling the pillow over his head. It couldn't be that important, anyways. After a good while, the beeping stopped and Ron turned to a more comfortable position to sleep back.

If they had been normal humans without the technology of teleportation, that would have worked. Of course, the blond reaper had to be so unlucky to get William T. Spears there, in the middle of his damn bedroom. His dear boss had the guts to open a portal and visit him in his free time. How splendid.

"Knox, why aren't you answering my call?" He used his death scythe to yank the blanket off Ronald, tearing a hole in the soft fabric.

"Aw, no! I just bought that one, it was so comfy." Ron hugged the blanket as he sat up. He quickly grabbed his glasses from the nightstand and put them on to see better.

"I don't care." He stated on his usual cold tone. "You have to come with me now! The dispatch is under attack!" The next sentences were said with much more concern and worry.

"What?" The young man asked, his heart beating faster and faster every passing moment. He still hoped, all of this was only a bad dream, but pinching himself didn't make any difference. So, it was real!

"A horde of demons broke in, trying to take human cinematic records with them. At the moment we got them cornered in the library, but I doubt it will last long." William adjusted his glasses with slightly shaking hands. Ronald could sense, he was frustrated.

He put on his uniform and grabbed his sickle as fast as he could, following his mentor to the portal.

The dispatch was quiet, too quiet. It made Ronald worried. The whole situation was so strange to him. He'd never seen a demon before and he didn't have the intention to do so. Mr. Spears and him made their way to the library, quickly running through the abandoned corridors. The sound of screams and gunshots got louder, as they approached. The double wing door was open, one of the halves brutally wrecked.

Before they went in, William turned to Knox, handing him a gun. "Do you know how to use this?" He asked the shocked young man.

"Not really." The trainee answered.

"Honestly! You point it at the head or heart of the demon and pull the trigger. There are special bullets inside, so every hit will be fatal for them. It's not rocket science." He sighed, motioning to the entrance.

Ronald held the gun with shaky hands. It wasn't the time to freeze, like a deer caught in the headlights. He gathered all his courage and strength, walking after Spears.

The situation was worse, than he'd imagined. There were at least a dozen demons in the library, running around and getting their hands on the records or attacking reapers. Most of the furniture and books were broken and scattered throughout the hall. Fortunately, he didn't notice any serious injuries on his colleagues. They stood their ground, like heroes.

A black figure turned towards him, roaring and running to him at full speed. Ronald held up his gun, aiming, then pulled the trigger. The creature collapsed on the floor and nothing, but black mist was left of it. It descended back to Hell.

Shooting wasn't as difficult as he had imagined. It was even better than using a sickle. He focused on a smoky figure attacking one of his colleagues and shot it in the heart (supposedly). Only, he didn't notice the creature juming at him from behind. He fell to the ground, his weapon landing somewhere out of his reach.

"If I don't get the human souls, at least I have a reaper's to eat." The black shadow barked above Ronald, grabbing his throat with his black claws. As they dug into his flesh, a few drops of blood stained his shirt. He struggled to get free, but the being was too strong.

This was it. He was going to die (again). He shut his eyes, waiting for the demon to consume his soul.

Nothing happened, only the sound of a blade cutting flesh. The creature's grip wasn't that strong anyone and he could breathe again. Ronald opened his eyes to see what happened, meeting the eyes of a woman. She was proudly holding a bloody axe in her right hand. Her uniform was all black with a lion pin on the left side of her suit. She was tall and slender, her blonde hair put into a ponytail.

"Are you all right?" She asked as she held out her left hald for Ronald to help him up.

"I think so." He stuttered, wiping the blood off his face with the sleeve of his shirt. Most of it wasn't his. He accepted the hand and the other reaper pulled him to his feet. "Thanks for saving me Miss..."

"Devin, Clara Devin." She made a curtsey. With the axe still in her hand, it was an interesting move.

"I know it's terrible timing, but it's nice to meet you. My name is Ronald Knox." Introducing himself, he grinned at his savior.

"I agree with you." Clara looked over Ronald from head to toe, her eyes stopping on his death scythe. "Are you a newbie? Where's your mentor?" She inquired as she swiftly cut down another demon, before it could get close to them.

Ron didn't see Miss Sutcliff the whole morning, but after the question, he heard the unmistakable sound of a chainsaw roaring from not so far. He quickly turned, spotting the redhead, just the moment she sliced a creature in half, sending drops of blood flying in the air. She was wearing different clothes, some sort of combat uniform, that was all black with light armor parts. It fit her lean figure perfectly, especially the knee-length boots. Her crimson hair was gathered into a messy ponytail, some strands hanging loose. Her face and west were slightly bloody, but she didn't seem seriously injured. She moved with the grace of a lady, although fighting like a true warrior. She had no mercy, when it came to killing enemies. That was one of the reasons, why the rookie respected her, but was also terribly afraid of her, to be honest.

Ronald swallowed the lump in his throat. "There she is." He gestured towards Grell.

Clara's smile quickly turned into a frown. "Are you serious?"

He didn't understand her sudden change of mood. "What's the matter?" He questioned, taking his sickle in this hand and preparing himself for defense, if one of the demons around them decided to attack. At the moment, they were too busy trying to escape Grell's death scythe, or collecting cinematic records.

"I thought you're quite alright, but if she is your mentor then..." Clara waved a hand in front of her face. Ronald knew what she meant by that.

"Miss Sutcliff has some quirks, but she's a nice person overall." He defended his boss. It was a bit sad, that some of the reapers got the wrong impression about Grell, only because they judged her by appearance or believed the false rumors about her.

Clara smiled at him not so genuinely. "You don't know her like I do. But let's not talk about this now." She looked around, deciding there weren't more demons to slay. She simply cleaned the blade of her axe with a piece of cloth and sat down in a far corner of the library.

Ronald was left there, standing in the middle of the chaos, not knowing what to do. It was a bit rude of Clara to just leave him, but he didn't complain.

After nearly all of the creatures were defeated, or some managed to get away, Grell rushed to Ron with a worried expression on her face.

"Ronnie! Did you get hurt? Let me help you!" She exclaimed, as she nearly tackled the young man. Although her uniform was too bloody, she hugged him tight.

"I'm fine." He mumbled, before the air was squeezed out of him.

Miss Sutcliff's maternal instincts must have been activated, because she was looking at him with too much concern. She spotted the wound on his neck, her eyes anxiously rounding. "No, you're not."

"It's just a scratch, really." The blond held up his hands in defense. Grell wasn't so easily convinced. A small band aid materialized in her hand, seemingly out of nowhere. She peeled off the wrapping and covered the small cuts with it. This act greatly surprised Ronald. A minute ago, the exact same woman was killing the enemy mercilessly and now, she turned into an overprotective mother hen.

"Be more careful next time, okay?" She grinned, patting his hair, like he was a toddler. Ronald nodded.

The last demon alive was caught for later interrogation.


	6. The deal

The creature was taken to a cell, where it got chains bound to its arms and legs. These special tools prevented it from using powers or escape attempts.

William, Grell and Ronald were the only ones in the room. The other reapers got injured, meaning they needed medical care and were currently at the infirmary.

The demon in front of them was a lower level fiend. Its body mostly consisted of misty shadows, some sharp claws and fangs here and there, not to mention a pair of glowing red eyes. At the moment, it was trying to take human form, but failed badly due to its hierarchical level in Hell.

Hierarchy was similar to evolution, but a bit different. Some creatures were like slugs and other vermin, while other beings could look almost identical to humans, if they decided to take that shape.

This demon only managed to make the impression of an ugly shadow of a human. The poor thing made its appearance even worse, as it tried to flash a smile for unknown reasons.

It was starting to creep Ronald out, when Mr. Spears decided to finally begin the interrogation. He stepped closer to the prisoner, cautiously eyeing it.

"What is your name?" He asked on a monotonous tone. When it came to interrogating someone, it was better to know how to address the being, even if it seemed more personal.

The fiend was clearly surprised at the question. "Akameeth." It hissed, trying to form words.

"Mr. Akameeth, why did you and your companions try stealing cinematic records?" William questioned.

"What?" The creature became confused, his eyes narrowing in doubt.

Grell was losing her patience. "Don't play dumb! You know damn well what he's talking about!" In the blink of an eye she appeared in front of the demon, threateningly holding her death scythe in her hand.

Of course, that was a move, that made Akameeth angry. "You all reek of death!" The being shouted and roared on an inhuman voice, showing many sharp teeth to the reapers around him.

"Shut your filthy mouth, vermin!" William struck him with his telescopic pruner on his head. The demon's response was even louder roaring and screeching, as he shook his chains.

Ronald just stood there, wondering what happened to Mr. Spears' earlier kind behavior and why he even had to be there. Being a grim reaper sucked.

Suddenly the door swung open and a young man with messy dark hair and round glasses rushed in. He was wearing a white lab coat, seemingly very enthusiastic about his job in the forensic division.

Grell quickly turned her head in the newcomer's direction, displaying an annoyed expression. "Oh come on! Why are you here Othello?" She sighed as she stepped beside the short scientist.

"I heard a demon was here. I've never seen a being like that before and I would like to examine it." He stated, overexcited to see the creature from so close.

"That is strictly forbidden! This... person is currently being interrogated, so I kindly ask you to leave him alone." William informed him, before Othello had the chance to get to the demon.

"You're such a killjoy, boss." He pouted, then took out a small notebook from one of his pockets. He scribbled down something, grinning. He probably had an idea. "I see you don't exactly know how to communicate with him, so I'll help you out." Somehow managing to avoid Grell, the scientist quickly walked to the demon. The redhead angrily stomped her feet, but didn't try to catch him.

With the creature's full attention on him, Othello asked only one question. "Why would you take something, what is not rightfully yours?"

William and Grell glanced at each other, the woman starting to laugh. "This is ridiculous." She remarked.

To everyone's surprise, Akameeth actually tried to say something and not just roar, like a wild animal. "Lord in Hell told us to go to reaper dispatch. We find souls here, but not to eat them. Take back to Hell." He croaked. It was a bit difficult to understand, but Othello managed to write all of it down in his notebook.

"The cinematic records aren't souls, meaning you can't consume them. Your kind has no use for them, although you're able to watch the records." The short reaper explained. "I'd like to offer you a deal. What do you say?"

The being seemed uninterested at first, but when Othello held up a strange object in front of him and started swinging it slowly, he furiously shook his chains, trying to break free. The thing in the scientist's hand looked like a necklace, with a very unusual pendant. It was similar to a spine, although being a lot smaller. The tiny bone was bound to a black leather string. In Ronald's opinion, the whole thing looked disgusting, but for the demon it was important somehow.

"Give it to meee!" Akameeth roared so loud, like never before. The chains were almost torn out of the wall from his raging force. Luckily, the enchantment was strong enough to hold him back.

"I see you're interested." Grell stepped beside Othello, clapping her hands. She snatched the necklace from his grasp to take a better look at it. "If you bring back the stolen cinematic records, you'll get this thing back, whatever it is. Though I don't understand why you need it so badly. It's not quite my style of fashion accessory." Grell examined the tiny bone pendant, then made a disgusted expression. "Do we have a deal?"

The demon gave up trying to break the chains, instead snarled at the crimson haired reaper, who didn't even move an inch. Ronald wondered, whether Grell had any fear and he came to the conclusion, that she definitely had none at all.

"Give it to me!" The fiend screamed one more time, attacking the lady in front of him. His claws were so close to Miss Sutcliff's face, that he almost scratched her small nose.

"What an angry little demon you are!" She laughed, before taking the pendant between her fingers. A wicked smile appeared on her face, as she pretended to break it. "Do we have a deal or not?" Grell demanded on a serious tone, while her emerald eyes were shooting daggers at the poor prisoner.

"Yes! Don't break it please!" Akameeth pleaded with her. That was a very unusual behavior among demons, yet the redhead managed to get the creature literally beg on his knees.

"All right!" She released the spine, turning towards Mr. Spears. "Would you please take off his chains, Will darling?" Grell kindly asked on her high pitched voice.

"I'm not your darling, Sutcliff." He stated coldly and a key materialized in his hand. William slowly stepped to the demon, opening the shackles from one to another, until the creature got back full freedom. Will had a feeling, he would try to attack, so the moment he was free from the chains, he opened a portal behind Akameeth and kicked him right into it. They could hear one last scream, before he disappeared.

"Good job, everyone." He said, adjusting the spectacles on his nose.

"Oh my God! He praised me!" Grell proudly chirped to Ronald, poking the blond's shoulder.

"Do you think, this plan will work and he will bring back the cinematic records?" The young reaper asked.

"Not at all, but it was fun." Grell chuckled with a wide smile.

"Then why did you do it, if you knew it wouldn't work anyways?" Ronald was confused. Why would someone waste their time, playing useless games for no particular goal? That didn't make much sense to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Will kicks the demon into the portal* This is Sparta!  
Sorry, I had to.
> 
> Thanks for reading this thingy. I promise to update soon.


	7. Not all angels have wings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's a bit late, but Happy New Year!  
I kind of took a break from writing this story, (I was working on a different fic) but I will not abandon it. I'll try to post regularly once or twice a month like before.
> 
> Warning: this chapter contains flashbacks of suicide and an attempt, as well. If you don't feel comfortable reading about these, skip this part and send me a message for plot summary.

A week passed and there wasn't even a word from the stolen cinematic records or the demon, who had been offered a deal. Ronald realized, his mentor was right. Akameeth was probably killed, the moment he suggested the idea of giving the records back to the reapers.

The daily soul collecting didn't stop, only because some fiends from Hell broke into the dispatch. No, a grim reaper's most important job was to gather the cinematic records of the human beings, who were destined to die.

On his next mission, Ronald was assigned to Mr. Spears, the most serious man in the British branch. To be honest, Ron was still getting used to his mentor's attitude. The young man didn't consider himself the hardworking type, but he was trying to do the best he could. Even the smallest mistakes made Spears frown and he never praised Ronald, only when mocking him.

Ronald made it in time, waiting for his mentor in the hall with his death scythe on his belt. It was still the old sickle. His modified weapon design had been handed in, but wasn't given an approval yet. Maybe general affairs was too busy with the paperwork after all the stolen records. Their exact number hadn't been declared, although it was known to be more than a hundred.

The higher ups contacted other grim reaper dispatches around the World, discovering that nearly the same case happened at the Japanese branch a year ago. The Tokyo grim reaper association was attacked five times only last year. They kind of got used to fighting demons after the fiftieth encounter, working out some useful solutions for the problem. The Japanese reapers were happy to help, transferring one of their experts in repelling fiends. The new colleague would arrive in a few days.

Mr. Spears walked to Ronald with his usual gloomy expression. "You actually paid attention to the time. I'm impressed." He mumbled on a monotonous tone.

The blond didn't say anything, only touched the new watch on his wrist. It was a modern gadget, a real work of art. Humans didn't make any yet and he was quite proud to wear a fashionable, but also useful accessory. After all, knowing what time it was was essential in such a punctual world.

As William got near him, he gave Knox a black notebook. It was a to die list. The rookie opened it at the last page, reading it quickly.

The cause of the man's death was going to be a shot right in the head. Such horrible passing for a twenty five year old. But fate couldn't and shouldn't be changed. That was one of the basic rules of a grim reaper's job.

Ron and Mr. Spears left the dispatch through a portal, arriving in a rather dark and filthy alley of London. It was late afternoon, but not fully dark yet. Most of the people finished work around this time, going home after another exhausting day.

As the two reapers walked, they surprisingly blended in with the crowd of humans, until they reached a small two storey house. All of the windows were dark, except for a small source of light on the rooftop. Taking a closer look, a young man could be seen holding an old kerosene lamp.

Spears and Knox got to the top of one of the nearby buildings to observe the human. He took some steps to the brick chimney, sitting down with his back to it. He had worn clothes: his dark brown wool coat was ripped at the shoulders and the soles of his shoes were starting to come off. His hair was a light shade of brown with some curls at the nape of his neck. His hazel eyes were fixed on the ground. He looked hopeless and miserable, as he sat there in the cold.

The man took something metallic out of his coat pocket, that glistened in his hand, but Ronald couldn't quite make out what the object was.

Could it be...

A pistol.

Suddenly, memories of his life sprung to Ronald's mind. Not this life, if it even could be called that. His human life.

A moment later, he found himself in a familiar room with the dim light of some candles. There was a mirror on the wall right in front of him, that hadn't been there before. Ronald could clearly see his reflection. His clothes were similar to a grim reaper's attire, although they were his old ones. His father had given him that suit before he got his first job. Ronald's eyes were blue and he didn't have black rimmed glasses. Cold metal was held in his right hand. When he glanced down, he immediately recognized what it was.

The gun he had stolen from that shop.

His surroundings were getting blurry and he felt like he had lost control of his own body. However, the person in the mirror was still there, acting like he was a different man, but Ronald knew well who he was.

A boy too weakened by sadness and self-hatred.

"You did this to us." The reflection said with a scary grin on his face. Then the pistol was slowly lifted to his head. Ronald tried to loosen his grip on the weapon, but his fingers were glued to it. He wanted to drop it, however he couldn't. It was like watching a film through his own two eyes.

The gun pressed to his forehead and Ronald felt the icy sensation on his skin. The man in the mirror gave him one last sneer. "How disappointing."

He pulled the trigger.

For a second, everything went black.

Then Ronald was brought back to the present, like nothing happened. Not even time passed.

It was just the ghost of that day still haunting him.

He was looking at the sorrowful young man next to the chimney again, who was staring at the pistol in his hands. He lifted his head to take one last look at the street below him. The people didn't pay attention to the scene above, they were too busy with their lives to care.

He raised the gun to his head, ready to pull the trigger.

Ronald felt horrible. Ever since he threw his life away, there wasn't a single day he didn't regret what he did. He couldn't let this happen, right in front of him.

He had to do something.

"No!" Ronald appeared beside him in the blink of an eye and tackled the human. He dropped the weapon in shock, before he was pushed to the ground.

Mr. Spears didn't have enough time to prevent the rookie from doing such a reckless and outrageous act. He wasn't prepared for something like this, because it was forbidden to interfere in death and was very unlikely to happen.

They were going to be in so much trouble for this. The situation was already giving him a headache and he had no idea how to solve it.

William instinctively took the black notebook in his hands. To make things worse, the report in the to die list started fading, until it disappeared completely.

"What the bloody hell?" He asked himself with a tired sigh. In almost a hundred years of being a reaper, William had never seen any report do this before. 

He was getting curious how Knox'd explain the situation to the shell-shocked human on the ground. He decided to wait a bit and give the young reaper a chance.

"What? Who are you?" The man inquired, still sitting on the cold floor, eyes wide. Ronald didn't make a plan before his actions, so he had to improvise a bit.

"Uh, well, I'm an angel," He nervously put his hand on the back of his neck. "Your guardian angel." He added after a bit of hesitation.

"Really?" The human didn't seem convinced. "Are you sure?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course I am." Standing straight, Ron proudly grinned. Maybe if he acted confident, the man would believe him, he thought.

"Where are your wings, then?" He asked. The young reaper was glad, he already looked a lot more cheerful than before. Perhaps making him laugh would be a good idea.

"I left them at home. They attract too much attention, plus I can't walk through doors with them." He stated, mimicking to fall back.

"Either of us are crazy, or both." He chuckled, although it wasn't that typical wholehearted laugh. "Can you prove, you're an angel?" He gave Ronald an expecting look.

Okay, this guy was a realist, which was rare in Victorian England. Most of the people even believed in witches and vampires, even though they were all just made up creatures. This man was an exception. He was too smart for his own good.

"All right." The blond put his hands up. "Your name is Peter Everett. You were born in Chicago, but when your father died, you moved to London with your mother and younger sister. You finished your studies and began working as a lawyer six months ago. Your fiancee cheated on you with a..."

"Fine, that's enough. I believe you." Peter interrupted before Ronald got to the juicy details.

"Excellent!" He grinned. "Now, as your guardian angel, I'd like you to continue living and never give up. Sometimes it gets complicated, but there's always hope to live for." Ron told him. He was about to leave, when Peter reached out to grab his arm. The man looked him in the eyes.

"Thank you." He said with a genuine smile, then let him go.

Ronald felt relieved. Not only he saved a life, but also kept his real identity secret. This mission was a win.

Or he thought so.

After he and Mr. Spears got back to the dispatch, he was given one of the longest lectures ever and of course, got so many hours of overtime, he could barely keep them in mind. He didn't regret what he did, though.


	8. The deputy boss

It was only the third day of his punishment, but Ronald was already exhausted from working plus hours every evening and the lack of sleep. After his regular schedule, he had to stay three more hours in Mr. Spears' or Miss Sutcliff's office, doing tons of paperwork for an entire month.

Spears was too cruel, although all Ronald did was saving a human's life. He wondered what someone would get, if they actually did something horribly wrong, like forming a contract with a demon or running away from the dispatch. He'd never do these things, though. Ronald knew well how important rules were to grim reapers.

As he was about to walk to his desk in William's office (for some unknown reason, both him and Grell were transferred there), he noticed the redhead somehow looked different that afternoon. She was wearing an actual uniform with the ordinary dull black and white color scheme instead of her favorite flamboyant red. Her glasses looked similar to Mr. Spears' and her bangs were neatly swept to one side with the rest of her crimson locks in a bun at the back of her head.

"Good afternoon Miss Sutcliff. I almost couldn't recognize you." The blond stated with a surprised expression. "What happened?" He inquired, starting to gather up the stack of papers in front of him.

Grell made a face like she was thinking, then gave him a wide grin. She even had less makeup this day, only a bit of mascara and light lipstick. "I was asked to help out by none other than my dearest William. Can you believe that?" Her emerald eyes sparkled with adoration, as she mentioned the cold-hearted senior.

Ronald didn't know how to properly reply to that, so he decided to start working. The sooner he finished, the more time he'd have for sleeping.

"It's actually quite hilarious." Grell continued. She casually sat to one side of Ronald's desk, crossing her long legs. She wasn't wearing her favorite high heels, but a pair of plain black oxford shoes instead. "The bosses asked Will darling to take some days off due to a rule. It is stated in the grim reaper law, that in every five years a reaper must take at least a week from working and Will is such a workaholic, he completely forgot about this. He was told to stay out of dispatch, unless he'd like some hours of overtime." She laughed. "So he chose to obey them and be away from the office for a week."

Ronald couldn't imagine Spears going on a holiday trip. He only saw him sitting at home, doing household chores or feeding breadcrumbs to the pigeons in a park. Kind of like an elderly man. In fact, he acted like he was more than sixty.

"So he won't be here for a whole week?" The young reaper was too happy to hear that. He hoped he didn't offend Grell, though. She and Mr. Spears seemed to be in a close relationship based on what the redhead had told him.

"I guess. He won't break a rule, even if it's a silly one." She glanced at her perfectly manicured red nails. "Do you think my outfit is proper enough to impersonate him? This week I have to play the strict and hardworking boss." She adjusted the glasses on the bridge of her nose, like Spears would do.

"Um, yeah." The junior answered hesitantly. Somehow, Miss Sutcliff always managed to surprise him. With her around, it surely wasn't boring.

"Most important rule: be punctual." Grell said, holding up her index finger. She took out an old pocket watch from her waistcoat. Opening it, she quickly checked the time.

"I thought Mr. Spears' most important rule was to be strict and give overtime to everyone, like it was a good thing." Ronald declared bitterly. The lady lightly smacked his head with a folder.

"Don't say such rude things behind somebody's back!" Grell scolded him. "Though, you're right." She admitted.

"I'm sorry."

"All right, looks like you can do your work, so I can start mine." She hopped off of the table, making her way to the door. Before opening it, Grell turned around and made an unusually serious face, Ron'd never seen before. She walked out to the corridor. "Turner, you may come in." He heard her voice, then Miss Sutcliff was back. She sat down to her (Spears') writing desk with a straight posture, folding her hands.

A short time later, a young reaper entered the office. He was a bit taller than Ronald and had curly brown hair. He wore black rimmed round spectacles on his freckled nose. The blond assumed he was another junior, about the same age as him. The man took a seat in front of Grell, his eyes anxiously fixed at the ground.

"Last week you lost your death scythe while collecting a cinematic record. Is that correct, Mr. Turner?" Miss Sutcliff asked on a monotonous tone, giving the reaper a sharp glare.

"Yes Ma'am." The scared junior replied quietly.

"Do you have any idea where your sickle is now?" Grell demanded, adjusting her glasses with an irritated sigh. Ron was amazed by how well his mentor imitated Mr. Spears' behavior. After all, Miss Sutcliff had been an actress.

"It got stuck in a wall." Turner whispered shamefully.

"Why didn't you take it out, then?" The redhead leaned closer to make a statement. The young man finally looked up at her, although still tried to avoid eye contact.

"I was about to, but..." He was cut off by the senior reaper.

"Two weeks of overtime for losing such an essential tool." Grell declared as she wrote something in a notebook.

Turner glanced at her with a surprised look on his face. "Only two?"

Miss Sutcliff put her hand in front of her mouth in a swift movement, but her eyes gave away, that she was chuckling. A few seconds later she burst out laughing and couldn't stop for a while.

'What was that?' Ronald thought, glancing up from his paperwork to the confused reaper, who was quietly crouching on the chair, rocking back and forth.

Grell straightened her back, regaining as much of her seriousness as she could. "In conclusion, take better care of your death scythe next time. You ought to go to general affairs and hand in a request form for a new sickle."

"Yes Ma'am." He answered and left the office in a hurry, almost bumping into the door frame on the way out.

"These youngsters nowadays don't know how to deal with their weapons." Grell remarked.

"No offense, but it sounds like an old lady said that." Ronald snorted. He was ready to get another smack on the head, but instead the door was opened and the redhead quickly sat back to her desk. She became unusually tense after noticing who was there.

"The Japanese demon expert is here, Sir." A familiar voice said. "What!?" Then angry growling sounds followed. The blonde woman stood next to the half opened door with a furious expression on her face, her cheeks getting red.

"Devin! I'm happy to see you!" Grell greeted her with pretended enthusiasm. Ronald wondered why these two hated each other so much, although he didn't have the courage to ask. Both women were excellent fighters and were too strong and he didn't want to risk starting a sensitive topic.

"Sutcliff! What the hell are you doing in Mr. Spears' office?" Clara huffed, putting her hand on the handle of her axe.

"He requested me to help him out. More importantly, why did you come here? Did you bite your poor partner again?" Miss Sutcliff mockingly laughed.

"As childish as ever. I didn't expect anything else from you." Miss Devin crossed her arms, her two-toned eyes shooting daggers at Grell. The redhead stood her gaze, no signs of fear showing on her calm face.

"I think it would be nice to meet our new colleague and give them a tour around the dispatch." Ronald politely suggested with a smile, interrupting their staring contest. Surprisingly, the two female reapers nodded in agreement.


	9. The expert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good news: I'll probably have more time to write. This is the only positive thing about what's going on in the world right now.
> 
> Stay safe everyone and wash your hands!

Ronald followed Grell through the long, dull corridors of dispatch, until they arrived to the hall. On their way Clara chose to put some distance between the redhead and herself, always walking a few steps behind Miss Sutcliff. She was like a shadow, her steps barely audible. There was something extraordinary about her, but Ron couldn't quite figure out what it was, yet. Maybe if he got to know Clara a more. He put aside his thoughts, as he noticed the newcomer.

A petite girl in a traditional kimono stood in front of the centre window, waiting for them with a calm smile on her face. Most of her outfit was black, only the upper coat had some kind of circular patterns on the blue fabric. Next to her was a large wooden box on the floor with Japanese writing on its side. The reaper was at least one head shorter than Grell (without high heels) and she had chin length hair with straight bangs so black, that it rather looked dark blue. Like every other grim reaper, her eyes had the typical two-toned green irises. And of course, she wore simple, black rimmed glasses.

Miss Sutcliff was the first one to greet her. "Hello! My name is Grell Sutcliff. It's nice to meet you! Welcome to the London dispatch." She held out her hand for the other reaper, but she just stared at it for a few seconds, clearly a bit confused.

"Good evening! My name is Eri Kawashima." She finally replied with a slightly audible foreign accent, bowing. She seemed even smaller while doing so.

Ronald stepped to them, also introducing himself with a kind expression. "I'm Ronald Knox. Nice to meet you, Miss Kawashima." Instead of a handshake, he bowed, mimicking the move the Japanese reaper did before. Eri responded with a proud grin.

Finally, Clara also greeted the new workmate. After they finished showing her the different rooms in dispatch and went to an empty office, Kawashima started packing out of the wooden box. It was a bit unusual for the British reapers, that she didn't use her powers to carry things, but a traditional method of transportation.

"I think it's time to get right into it." Eri said as she pulled out a very impressive, black katana from the box. The weapon's blade was longer than the storage place, so it was clear, that she used some kind of spell. Ronald didn't understand why she needed a box to carry weapons. It would have been simpler just to summon her scythe, like the Brits did.

"Do you have any personal belongings from the demons?" She inquired while drawing out several other objects. Some of them were like scythes, although many looked much more complicated.

"One of my subordinates was smart enough to find and keep one." Grell stated and summoned the small piece of bone on a black leather string. It had been kept in the forensic division just in case.

"Excellent." Eri's eyes lit up. "Can I take a closer look at it, Grell-san?" She asked. Miss Sutcliff handed her the pendant. To everyone's surprise the Japanese reaper held it close to her face and sniffed it. "I thought so." She mumbled, still examining the object.

"Can you please explain it to us?" Ronald requested.

"Of course." Eri put the necklace on the writing desk and glanced up at the others. "Thirty years ago, a few weeks after I started working at the Tokyo dispatch, a group of demons attacked us. They murdered so many of my colleagues and some of us got seriously injured. It was the most horrible day in Japanese grim reaper history." Her voice trailed off.

Ronald was horrified to hear about the sorrowful events from which this young woman and her colleagues had to suffer. Miss Kawashima looked so small and vulnerable, too. At first, the blond reaper actually thought she was a kid. She must have been younger than him, when she became a reaper.

"When we fixed the damage and healed ourselves, they broke in again and again." Eri continued. "So we started training and invented some useful weapons to keep the fiends away. There is a special group with the task to fight demons. I am one of them."

"It's such a dreadful loss!" Grell told Kawashima, grasping her hand with hers. Eri seemed a bit concerned, but didn't pull away. After half a minute the redhead finally let go of her.

Eri blinked a few times. "The same group of demons was also behind the attack here. Their leader is nothing like the others. He is smarter and likes to experiment with cinematic records. We don't exactly know his intentions, though." She explained.

"I don't understand something." Ronald stated with confusion in his voice. "One of the underlings attacked me and said, that he wanted to eat my soul. He even attempted to take it." The junior had to put his hand on his neck after bringing up the painful memory. The small wounds already healed the hour he was attacked, although he still felt stressed about almost dying. He would probably remember it for the rest of his life. (Which lasted forever. Yup! Thanks random demon.)

"Most of the lower level fiends are only motivated by souls. They probably were mislead by their lord." Miss Kawashima answered. She knew so much about demons, but it was heartbreaking, she obtained all this knowledge due to a tragedy.

"And what if they don't get any?" Grell asked. Her eyes were still full of protectiveness and concern towards the Japanese girl, although she actually wasn't that small and vulnerable. It must have been a bit awkward to Eri to deal with those pitying looks.

"Their lord simply slaughters them and creates new servants. When it comes to mercy, demons have none."

"How can someone be so cruel to their own kind!" Grell angrily exclaimed. "Don't they feel any sympathy?"

"Sadly no. There are certain cases, when a demon murders their own family. This also shows they are nothing like us or humans." Miss Kawashima told them with no emotions showing on her face. "But let's not talk about that!" She walked to the wooden box and took out a small glass container. It was full of some suspicious dark purple-blue liquid. Many little shiny dots floated in it, just like stars on the night sky. The potion seemed to move on its own, despite not getting stirred up. Eri was careful not to swing it, firmly holding it in her right hand.

The three British reapers couldn't take their eyes off of the strange bottle. Even Clara seemed interested, although she was the type of person, who liked to watch from a distance.

"What is that? It looks just like a tiny galaxy bottled up." Miss Devin said as her usually grim expression softened to kind and dreamy. The starlike lights were reflected in her eyes.

Miss Sutcliff also reminded Ronald of a child, who was curiously gazing up at the night sky.

He felt a bit funny himself, but he didn't exactly know how to describe this emotion. It was like getting lost in a happy, warm dream. His heart was overflowing with something cozy.

"It's the most lethal poison. Please stop staring into it! If you look at it for too long, you will die." The dark blue haired girl informed them and quickly put the potion far away from the other reapers.

"What!" Grell gasped in shock. "How can something so beautiful be that dangerous? And you're simply carrying it around in your backpack, like it was a bottle of water! How reckless!" The redhead scolded Miss Kawashima.

"I'm afraid you misunderstand me, Grell-san." Eri straightened her back and stared right into the taller woman's eyes. "I'm not here to play house with you. I was sent by the Tokyo Dispatch Demon Management to return the stolen cinematic records and help you prevent further attacks." She seemed slightly offended, although she didn't raise her voice. For a moment, Ronald saw tears gathering in her eyes. "It's my duty to protect this place and I will do everything in my power." Eri fixed her gaze at the ground.

As the Japanese reaper bent her head a bit, a deep scar became visible at the nape of her neck. Her skin was red with several jagged lines and bite marks. Her hair was still covering most of it, but from what Ronald could see, it was the horrible remainder of a severe injury. He couldn't imagine what happened, that had caused such a wound.

"I am sorry for yelling at you, Miss Kawashima." Grell said with a small smile. "I was rude to you. Though, I shouldn't judge something I don't even understand." She admitted, trying to make up. "And I'm sure you want the best for us."

Eri raised her head, seemingly calm again. "You don't have to apologize. I'm the one, who made a mistake. I should have informed you about the poison in advance." The petite woman admitted, fiddling with the sleeve of her kimono. "I was too emotional. That's all." She gave Grell a tired smile.

"I suggest we all take a break from working. We can continue fresh in the morning." Clara offered.

Taking a break surely sounded nice, Ron thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The potion in this chapter was made up by yours truly. Here is some information about it:  
柔らかい毒 (Yawarakai doku) Soft poison:  
The most lethal poison against demons. It is also effective against any living creature, which has a mind. It is made from the mixture of different flowers, and is contained in thick glass bottles. The liquid resembles the night sky with its shiny texture and color. It looks beautiful and mesmerizing, however it's deadly even to gaze into the mix. The person, who contacts the poison feels warm and dreamy, but once they get into it, there's no going back. This is the most pleasant method of death invented by Japanese grim reapers.


	10. Catch up meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter full of crack! I hope you enjoy it. :D

Mr. Spears eventually came back from his holiday (probably at home) and started bossing around everyone, like he always did. He was surprised, that Grell somehow managed to do his work alone for an entire week without messing everything up. After meeting Miss Kawashima, they talked over the strategy against demons, in which Ronald's assistance wasn't required. Someone still had to do the cinematic record collecting after all.

Spears was in such good spirits, that he allowed Ron to leave the dispatch early. (That was a once in a lifetime opportunity.) Finally he had time to meet his friends and have a drink together.

The junior called Alan Humphries, one of his best friends and invited him to the bar. Their friendship started at the final exam, where the two of them were assigned together for the important mission. They got along well right from the start and had similar ideas at the exam. After successfully completing the task, they kept in touch, but didn't have time to meet due to getting overtime.

Ronald was glad to see Alan again. Although they worked at the same place, they couldn't really chat during the day.

The two young reapers took a seat at a table after ordering drinks.

"So, what's up with you?" Alan asked with a smile. He looked a bit tired, but his cheerful expression told Ron he was fine. His friend was the sickly type even past he became a grim reaper.

"Where should I start? Too many things happened since we met." The blond man said while taking a sip from his beer.

"Well, then tell me about your seniors. I heard that you've got two and they are quite the eccentric types." Alan mumbled as he also drank a bit. Like Ronald, he had chosen a jar of beer.

"Let's see! To be honest, Mr. Spears is strict as hell and always scolds me for even the smallest mistakes." He made a face to express his true opinion. "Miss Sutcliff is nice, though."

"Yes, my senior told me about Spears. He doesn't really like him, to put it less offensively." Alan laughed. "Mr. Slingby is too honest, but a kind man. I think you know him. He's easy to recognize with his height and Scottish accent."

"Is he the bulky man, who always drinks coffee from a pink mug?" Ron remembered him from the day he first met Grell. He was the one, who told him where to find the infamous red reaper's office, scaring him while doing so.

"Yep! He taught me some combat skills, which are useful in fieldwork. Plus I have a new death scythe." Alan told him proudly. He summoned his weapon to show it to his friend. Ronald praised the design of the saw. He found it practical because of the long handle, but also safe to use.

They had so many things to catch up on. Alan also happened to be present in the library, while the demon attack took place. Fortunately, he didn't get a scratch so he helped in patching up the injured reapers. After that, he didn't participate in the case, doing his regular schedule.

"Have you seen something strange, like really really weird?" Alan asked randomly. Ron could tell he was getting tipsy from the beer, but so was he.

"In fact I have, or rather someone." The blond raised his index finger with a suspicious expression. "I was in the library looking for books about potions. I didn't find much. That's not important, though. I went to the back section and that's when I bumped into an old guy with long grey hair dressed in a black robe or something. On top of that, he had a creepy smile and was laughing like a lunatic the whole time!" He tried to imitate the aforementioned grin.

"What?" Alan stared at him with a curious look in his green eyes. "Did you talk with him?"

"He was the one, who started our funny conversation by dropping one of the books in his hands. It was some kind of medical encyclopedia and he said "Oh my! These notes are all wrong about human anatomy, don't you think?" And he showed me a sketch about some organs."

"Why would he do that?" Alan inquired with a chuckle.

Ronald stuck out his tongue and made a disgusted face. "I have no idea! Then he asked who my mentor was. When I said Miss Sutcliff and Mr. Spears, he took a photo album out of thin air and started showing me pictures about my seniors. Honestly, it was sooo weird! He even had stories to share about them."

Alan burst out laughing, like never before, almost knocking his beer. "Tell me a story about Spears!" He mumbled with tears in his eyes from snickering.

"Okay. He and Miss Sutcliff used to be at each other's throats all the time. Funny enough, they were roommates and Miss Sutcliff was the winner of most of these fights, so it was hell for the poor man. She often pulled pranks on Spears and humiliated him in front of others. She also had an unusual habit of making dolls based on people she knew." Ronald kept his voice down a bit. He didn't want the other reapers to hear these juicy secrets. Initially Ron wasn't a gossiping person, but the alcohol eased him a bit.

"Poor Senior Spears! Now I understand his behavior after such a tragic backstory!" On the other hand Alan was too loud, probably too drunk to whisper.

"Yes! I guess we should go home. It's getting late and sadly we have work to do tomorrow." Ronald informed his friend with a hint of sadness in his voice. He already knew he was going to have a headache in the morning.

"Aww, don't be such a killjoy! I bet those girls would like to dance. Let's go ask them!" Alan stood up.

Ronald was damn sure it wasn't a good idea, but he went with it nevertheless. How could he refuse such a good offer?

The next morning Ronald walked to Miss Sutcliff's office with a sleepy yawn, not expecting too much of the day, just the usual boring paperwork and some cinematic record collecting. What he found instead was so shocking, he almost thought it must have been a dream, or his hungover was taking an effect on his brain.

Unsuspecting, he opened the door and was about to step to his desk, but he had to back away after noticing something very unusual and dangerous in the centre of the room. Other than his dear senior lying on her back on the floor, there was a lion above her, ready to attack! She must have been a female lion or a very young one, because she didn't have a mane.

Miss Sutcliff was trying to keep the great feline away with bare hands, holding the sides of her head and pushing her away from her throat. The wild animal pinned her to the ground with her huge paws, threatening to use razor sharp claws on Grell's shoulders.

Ronald had no idea what to do in a situation like this, not only because at the lessons they never taught him anything lion related, but also due to being shell-shocked. He was frozen like a deer caught in the headlights.

Then he remembered something about wild animals getting scared of sudden noise. Maybe if he was loud enough, the wild cat would back off and leave Grell alone. He gathered two thick books from a nearby shelf and clapped them together with as much strength as he could.

"Ronnie, what are you doing?" He heard Miss Sutcliff. She was out of breath, but there wasn't even the slightest bit of horror in her voice, although she was fighting with a lion, for God's sake!

"I'm trying to scare her." The junior answered, his eyes still round and his heart pounding loud in his chest.

"There's no need for that! I can manage, thanks." The redhead blurted out between heavy breathing. The lion's fangs were horribly close to her face. Nevertheless, she used her knee to shove the animal off. In the process, she got scratched on her left cheek. It wasn't a deep wound, although it still bled, staining Grell's white shirt.

"Now you pissed me off! How dare you hurt a fair maiden's face!" She screamed as she jumped up fast.

The lion got back on her four paws. "Don't make me laugh, old hag!" She roared, or at least Ronald assumed it was her. There wasn't anyone else in the office. The voice was deep, but it sounded too familiar to his ears. Who was this feline and why could she talk?


	11. The reason William's getting more grey hairs every day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry for the delayed update. This chapter is also full of nonsense, but I hope you like it!

To make things even more messed up, the door swung open and a very angry William T. Spears rushed into the room. Or rather into the middle of chaos. His face was nearly as red as Miss Sutcliff's hair, when he stopped in front of the lion and Grell. With one swift move he grabbed both of them by the ear.

"What is all this bloody noise? Are you two out of your minds?" He yelled, utter disappointment present in his expression. "This is a reckless and unacceptable behavior I won't tolerate!"

The situation wasn't funny, although seeing the lion ashamed and trying to curl up in a ball was hilarious. Grell on the other hand, didn't seem to regret her actions. She confidently glanced up at Mr. Spears.

"It's not my fault. Devin started it!" Commented the redhead, sticking out her tongue at the lion like a kid. The feline growled at her in response, rolling her eyes.

It was only after this, when the junior realized, who the lion was. At first, it was unbelievable and strange, that a grim reaper was actually capable of taking the form of an animal, but there she was right in front of his eyes! Somehow he always thought something was different about Clara, but couldn't figure out exactly what.

"I don't give a damn about who started it! And Miss Devin, please shift back at once!" William released the lion's ear and Clara reverted back to her human form in the blink of an eye, like she'd never been a lion. Now that was an impressive ability! Ron really wanted to ask her some questions. One of them was whether she could take other forms too, but he knew well this time wasn't ideal for chitchat.

"You never learn from your mistakes! It's such a shame that two adult grim reapers always start bickering, imitating the manners of kindergarten kids or rather wild animals! Excuse me Devin." William added, after realizing what he just said. Ron had to hold back a laugh at that. At this point he was more or less used to seeing his senior, Miss Sutcliff getting scolded by Spears. After all, it was a weekly ritual of them.

Will finally released Grell's ear and straightened his back, seemingly calmer. "Both of you get one week of overtime and consider this punishment fortunate. I hope you learn from this, for God's sake!" He sighed loud, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose with one finger. "Next time I won't be so merciful."

He was about to leave, when Grell suddenly grabbed him by the wrist.

"Since I don't find this punishment fair, I have an offer." She said with a smirk. Her voice indicated suspicious intention. At first Mr. Spears didn't look interested, although he stopped nevertheless.

"Let's play a simple game, then." The redhead suggested, rushing to her desk and fetching a pack of cards. She took out three cards and showed it to the others, including Clara. "I'll only use three cards, as you can see. One of them is a heart ace." Grell picked up the card and gave it to William. The man accepted it with a frown, examining it thoroughly.

"And now the rules." Miss Sutcliff said on a sing-song voice, snatching the ace from her boss's hand. "You can only draw once. If you manage find the red ace at first, I'll accept the overtime. But if you don't, I won't have to work. I put the card in the middle, here." She explained proudly while showing him. The black haired man didn't seem too pleased. "What do you think, darling?"

"Fine. Just get over with it Sutcliff." Another sigh left the serious reaper's mouth.

"I'm glad to hear that." The woman chuckled and started shuffling the cards so fast, Ronald couldn't even see her hands. How was she doing that? Did she have a secret gambling hobby or something? William was concentrating the whole time.

Then she held up the three pieces of paper with their backs to Spears.

Less than five seconds passed and William picked the one on the left. "Not even a bit challenging. It's this one." He commented with a confident, but stern face. Grell laughed again.

The male reaper looked at the card in his hand, the others also getting a glimpse of it. "What? How?" He questioned with a confused expression, staring at the piece of paper in disbelief.

"It's not as easy as you think." The redhead was clearly enjoying their little game, judging by the smug grin on her face.

William suddenly turned on his heels to face Ron and Clara. "May I ask you to leave the office for a short amount of time? You can continue your work after I finished my negotiation with Sutcliff, of course."

They did as they were told. Ron stayed on the corridor, because he didn't want Spears to punish him, too. It was clear he wasn't in a good mood that day. On the other hand, Miss Devin walked away without a word.

Half an hour later the door eventually opened, waking the junior up from his peaceful nap. In case one of his mentors asked whether he was sleeping, he'd deny it. Ronald fixed his gaze at the door and immediately noticed some changes in Mr. Spears' attire and hairstyle. His tie wasn't perfectly knotted, not to mention his messy hair. It was so unusual of him not to look immaculate.

"Boss, what happened to you?" Ronald asked. Maybe he was a bit rude, because he immediately earned a sharp glare from William. "I mean your clothes are kind of messed up." The rookie mumbled.

Spears rolled his eyes in response. "That's because we had a fight. Don't imagine things, Knox!" He retorted, but it sounded a bit strange. His cheeks were also getting red, but not from anger.

"I wasn't..." The blond man held up his hands in defense, surprised to see his other senior walk out of the room to the corridor. William's face softened for a moment as his eyes met the crimson lady's.

"Sutcliff, thanks to your silly game you get twice as much overtime. Have an excellent day!" Mr. Spears said, leaving Grell and Ron with quick steps.

"You too, Will darling!" Miss Sutcliff waved, although William didn't seem to care.

The junior didn't have the intention to ask about this strange scene. He decided to mind his own business and go back to paperwork.


	12. It's a hard-knock life

Every time Ronald was assigned to collect a cinematic record with Miss Sutcliff, he kind of felt like a Golden Retriever puppy placed in the care of a feral tiger. It was true the crimson lady was an excellent fighter and defended the junior, when something went wrong, but she also attracted trouble. Or if she thought something was boring, she made the trouble herself.

At first, this reaping seemed to be no different than the others. After the human deceased and the young man used his sickle to take out the cinematic record, it happened to go berserk, attacking Ronald with a swift move. Apparently, Miss Sutcliff was too busy fixing her hair, looking at her reflection in a window, to notice Ron's struggle.

The record became more and more aggressive, as it was trying to tie the reaper up, like a Christmas decoration on a pine tree. This phenomenon occurred in cases, the human was still alive or fighting for their life. Their cinematic record sensed this, but lost connection with its owner, therefore it wanted to find a new body. The nearest being happened to be the unlucky reaper assigned to collect it.

"Miss Sutcliff! Could you please help me out a bit?" The blond man asked, still polite, despite being dragged into the air by the record around his arms and legs. This crazy thing just wouldn't comply, toying with Ron like he was a puppet.

At first, the redhead shrugged, glancing back at her reflection, probably thinking the junior was fine and only needed help with something unimportant, but then she turned her head, when Ronald screamed in pain. The record restrained his right hand, so he couldn't even swing his death scythe to free himself. It was dangerously close to his heart, ready to make him its new body.

He knew he wouldn't die, but it would be even worse than death, if the record went into him. These mysterious things could alter one's memories and make them completely useless, when occupying a grim reaper's body. The people who suffered from a cinematic record were no more than vegetables. Their memories were mixed up with the human's and they got constant hallucinations. Ronald would rather choose death, than become an empty shell like that.

This was it, he was going to become a useless puppet without a functioning brain! Ron gave up struggling and lost consciousness as his head hit something hard. He could hear the sound of a chainsaw just before that.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, when he came round. He was lying on his back tucked in a bed. His head hurt, but he was alive and his mind was intact. At least he thought so. The junior opened his eyes with a groan. The lights in the room were too bright and he couldn't see much due to the lack of his glasses. However, he could spot Grell sitting on a chair next to his bed with a wide grin on her face. She looked a bit scary, flashing him that smile and all those sharp teeth.

"Ronnie! I'm so glad you're fine!" She happily exclaimed, putting her hands on the blanket with a little bit too much strength. The redhead couldn't stop grinning and her eyes were fixed on Ronald's face. Was something wrong with his head? His skin felt a bit different than usual, though. The young reaper slowly raised his hands to touch his face.

"Be careful not to ruin my masterpiece." Miss Sutcliff said and quickly swatted away his hands.

Ronald was utterly confused.

"What do you mean? Did I get badly injured so you had to stitch up my face?" The rookie questioned, horrified to hear the answer.

"See it for yourself." A hand mirror materialized in Grell's hand, which she held up to the shocked reaper. Ron was too afraid to look into it at first, but eventually he did, blinking in surprise.

"What have you done to me?" He asked, staring at his reflection wide eyed. His face was almost unrecognizable to himself.

"You were unconscious so I brought you to the medical wing. The doctor said you were okay, so I took the chance while you were resting to do a fancy makeover on you." Grell proudly grinned. She seemed satisfied with the results of her so called makeover.

"Why do I look like a rich old lady?" Ronald frowned as he was about to touch one of the fake eyelashes glued on. All the colors and glittery things were too much for his taste, not to mention the blood red lipstick. But who was he to judge such things? Compared to Miss Sutcliff's everyday makeup, which the junior thought was pretty and subtle, the redhead really went overboard with his.

The lady shot him a sharp look at the remark.

"Nonsense. You look beautiful, Ronnie dear. And as for the reason, I didn't want to leave you while you were sleeping, but I became a bit bored. I thought why not take the chance to do your makeup. Otherwise you wouldn't let me." She said with a laugh.

"That's true." The blond reaper answered with a smile. He couldn't be angry with his senior. After all, it was so nice of her, that she stayed beside his bed for long hours.

"You're so adorable, just like you were my son!" Grell patted Ronald's hair, careful not to make his headache worse.

"I thought we were about the same age. How old are you?" He asked, not sensing how impolite the question was.

"You must never ask a lady her age!" Miss Sutcliff growled at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel bad for writing such horrible things happen to poor Ronald, even though he's fine. :(
> 
> Also, sorry if I got the Thorns of death part wrong. Although I haven't watched the musical I tried to look this reaper sickness up, but I didn't find enough information. (Toboso-sensei likes to keep everything secret.)


	13. Waiting on the sidelines

Due to his head injury, Ronald was assigned to one week of only paperwork in the office. This time it wasn't intended to be punishment, although the junior felt like it was. He loathed filling out documents, sitting at a boring desk and not being able to smell the fresh air! As far as the dirty grey smoke in London fit that description. But it was more exciting than a dull white room, at least.

It made him even more disappointed, when he heard the cinematic record recovery would take place the exact same day as the first day of his paperwork.

Why?

He wanted to help Miss Sutcliff in the mission, although Spears forbade him to join in such a dangerous trip to Hell, even before his accident. He explained to him juniors weren't fit for an action so risky, where the chance of success was less than twenty percent. (That's a bit unsettling to hear!)

So what if something would actually happen to Miss Sutcliff and the other reapers assigned to the mission? Ronald tensed up in his chair, staring at the stack of papers in front of him. It was hard to concentrate on his work, when he just saw some of his colleagues leave the dispatch with several weapons dressed in combat uniforms. Even Miss Kawashima changed her traditional kimono to an armoured outfit. She looked like a ninja with two swords on her back, which had longer blades than the girl's height.

"Knox! I ask you to refrain from sleeping while it isn't time for your break." The blond man heard the cold voice of Mr. Spears from behind his back. He seriously wondered what the T in William T. Spears stood for. Was it Tyrant or Torment master? He had a bet it must have been one of them, or perhaps both.

"Or in case you're not feeling well due to your head injury, visit the medical wing." Oh, so he could be caring, too. That was new!

The junior turned around to face his boss. "Sorry! I'm fine, so I'll continue the paperwork." He flashed a reassuring smile, although Spears wasn't so fond of showing such unnecessary emotions. Fortunately, that was enough to convince the strict man to leave him alone.

A few seconds later William turned back. "One of the forensic scientists needs a hand with something. Could you please help him out?" He requested. This time his face lacked the usual frown.

"Of course!" Ronald quickly stood up and followed his boss. He wouldn't miss a chance to get rid of paperwork! Plus he really liked chatting with other reapers.

The place he had to go happened to be at the medical wing for some reason and not the huge laboratory in the basement. The the young reaper spotted a short man in a white coat pacing back and forth around a table full of lab equipment. He looked so familiar with his messy dark hair and round glasses. The way he talked to the doctor reminded Ron of when they interrogated the demon a month ago.

He remembered now, who the scientist was. He was the guy, who got on Miss Sutcliff's nerves the moment the woman noticed him. That was a bit funny to watch, although he wouldn't admit it in front of the crimson lady.

"Othello, this is Knox, one of the juniors. Try not to overwork him, he just suffered a head injury." Spears pushed the blond reaper in front of the other man, giving him instructions like he was some sort of machine.

"Hi!" Ron waved with his right hand, trying but failing to make the situation less awkward.

"It's nice to meet you Knox!" Othello exclaimed, his eyes shining from excitement behind his round spectacles. He gave Ronald the impression of a child, who was just given a gift he really liked. The man must have loved tinkering with the modern lab equipment, the grim reaper dispatch had.

On the other hand, William was seemingly relieved to leave his junior with the short scientist, walking away from the medical wing with quick steps.

"So, what exactly are you working on?" Ron asked, furrowing his brow at the sight of so many tools and machines he didn't even know the names of. He wasn't sure those things had been there before. After all, he was too busy freaking out over the makeover Miss Sutcliff gave him. Also, getting rid of all the glitter and red lipstick was a real pain in the ass.

"He's messing up the infirmary with all this rubbish!" Miss Montgomery, the doctor stated angrily, appearing from one of the wards. The grey haired elderly woman was carefully holding something between two fingers, which looked like a sandwich, only it was green from all the mold growing on it. Cautiously eyeing Othello, she stepped next to him and put the rotten bread in the man's coat pocket with one swift move. The scientist didn't protest, seemingly not at all bothered by that.

"Don't listen to her! She's just mad, because she can't read her romance novels in peace since I'm here." Othello pointed out with a grin. The doctor swatted at him, but the guy was quicker, easily evading her hand.

Miss Montgomery's expression said 'I'm the boss here, so shut up, you little shit!' but the lady only forced a not so genuine smile on her face, going back to tend to one of her patients. After spending just five minutes near Othello, Ron realized it was a real challenge to tolerate him, especially for women. The poor man had no social skills.

"So as I was saying, I am doing research on..." The short reaper couldn't finish the sentence, because he was yet again interrupted by a portal opening in the middle of the room. The next moment, a very exhausted Grell stepped through it, leaving drops of blood on the white floor around her. The junior was horrified by such sight.

The redhead's whole body was covered in blood, including her combat uniform and face. She was holding her death scythe with a shaky hand, gasping for breath.

"Dear God, Miss Sutcliff! Are you all right?" Ronald cried, running up to his wounded senior as fast as he could.

"Oh, it's not my blood. Well, mostly." Grell grinned, weary from fighting with demons. She probably intended to reassure Ron and show him, she was fine.

Suddenly, she dropped her chainsaw to the floor, collapsing next to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh! I'm so sorry to end this chapter with a cliffhanger! Don't hate me pls!  
I'll post the next and final chapter of this story soon, I promise! ;)


	14. This is *not* a romance novel

Ronald was quick to catch his senior, right before the lady's head would have met the cold tiles. He was shocked, when he felt how cold Miss Sutcliff's body was. It was almost like she was... No! That couldn't be true! He refused to accept the possibility of losing Grell.

His mind was filled with worry and anxiety, so he didn't hear Othello's words. After he managed to lift the unconscious woman up, the blond reaper just stood there in the center of the room filled with the things the scientist had hoarded up. He was so helpless.

Where should he take her? Where was Miss Montgomery to tend to the redhead's wounds?

Luckily the old lady was already present, preparing the equipment needed for Grell. Othello was there, too, guiding Ronald to the room suitable for Miss Sutcliff in such condition.

Ron felt tears gather in his eyes as he carefully put his senior on the examination table. Othello stepped beside him and put a comforting hand on the rookie's shoulder.

"She's going to be all right. After all, Grell is stronger than most of the men here. Actually, than all of us." The short reaper stated with a small, but reassuring smile.

He must have been right. Ronald believed Othello not only because he had known Miss Sutcliff for a lot longer than he did, but also because he seemed to be the kind of person, who always told his honest opinion on everything.

Miss Montgomery kindly asked the two male reapers to leave the room and wait on the corridor for a bit. It was so quiet for minutes, which felt like a lot longer, that Ron could hear his own heartbeat.

Then his ears caught a familiar voice from the room the redhead was being taken care of. It was really Miss Sutcliff! In the beginning she said something, that the junior couldn't understand. The doctor let out a subtle laugh in response.

Right after Grell was taken to one of the bigger wards, the old woman let Ronald and Othello visit her. She also informed them about the crimson lady's wounds. Ron was so relieved to learn none of Miss Sutcliff's injuries were serious and she only needed a few stitches for the longest cut on her right upper arm.

"I'm so glad you're doing better! Please don't scare us like that!" The young man asked his senior with teary eyes. He took a seat at the side of Grell's bed, careful not to move her.

"I was just a bit tired from the fight with those nasty things. Don't worry so much about me, darling!" The redhead said, waving with her hand, like it was nothing. Although she had some bandages and band aids here and there. She even received a temporary eyepatch for the scratch on her left eye. In Ron's opinion it suited her, giving her a more dangerous and pirate-like look. (Almost as he imagined before meeting her in person. He was lucky he didn't get beaten up back then.)

"Told you. She's indestructible." Othello stated, winking at the man next to him.

"You're damn right I am!" Grell laughed, but she put her hand, which had less bandages on her side with a pained expression.

"And what happened to the others? Was the mission successful?" The blond inquired, staring at the woman with curious eyes.

"Most of them went to the library to put the cinematic records back in order. To be honest, I was the one who had to do the dirty work. There was this ugly hag, who happened to be their Lord or something. She was a nuisance to deal with." Grell sighed while adjusting the bandages around her arm. It was amazing how quickly she regained strength and her face wasn't so pale anymore. All the wounds would heal in a few hours, too.

As Miss Sutcliff was telling them what happened at Hell, the other reapers started coming to the medical wing one by one, or in smaller groups. All of them were unharmed and happily greeted the senior, asking about her health. Grell seemed to enjoy being the center of attention, freely chatting with her colleagues, a proud smile present on her face.

Even Clara showed up, although she kept the usual distance between the redhead and herself. Only one person from Grell's department was missing, none other than Mr. Spears. Ron wondered where he was.

Half an hour later the door opened again, revealing a very anxious looking William, whose hands were shaking. The sight was most unusual to many reapers, precisely everyone who had known William T. Spears for more than five minutes.

The man paced to Miss Sutcliff's bed, and to everybody's great astonishment, he cupped the woman's face in his hands. William leaned closer to Grell until their lips met, giving her a long, passionate kiss.

Now that was impressive!

The people in the room stared at the 'couple' with shocked expressions, holding back their breath. However, the funniest thing was the lady's reaction, who happened to receive the kiss. Miss Sutcliff simply fell back into the pillows right after William released her face and just lied there, like she'd fainted again. Her cheeks were red and she was muttering nonsense.

William touched her hand to wake her up. "Sutcliff! What have I told you about reckless behavior?" He questioned with a cold, but not his usual tone.

After Grell managed to sit up, she flashed her signature Cheshire cat smile. "This is the Sutcliff way of doing things." She said proudly, the blush still present on her face.

"Getting yourself beaten up just for the sake of a mission? That is absolutely unnecessary." Will retorted with a frown. He looked warm and caring despite being upset about Miss Sutcliff's daring nature.

"Congrats boss! You have a heart after all." Mr. Slingby exclaimed from the crowd.

William turned around to face his colleagues. This time, his grim expression was back on his serious face, eyes shooting daggers. "Honestly, why are you still here? Go back to your duties. Or would you like to get overtime to motivate you?" He threatened the poor reapers, although he didn't have to ask them twice. They all left the room, including Ronald.

Being a grim reaper didn't suck that much after all. People were given a second chance and also a purpose. On top of that it was entertaining, when you had seniors like Miss Sutcliff and Mr. Spears.

*The End*

Bonus scenes (I had these in my notes but I couldn't fit them into the story, so decided to include them at the end)

1.

Grell: Ronnie, can I tell you something very important? It's a secret I'd like to share.  
Ron: Of course Miss Sutcliff. What is it?  
Grell: Will secretly sleeps with a teddy bear, that he named Sir Fluffy.  
Ron: What? How do you know that?  
Grell: Back in the academy days we were roommates. The supervisors sorted us alphabetically.  
Ron: *snorts* Typical.

2.

Grell: *finds a small flute* I wonder what this does.  
*tries it* I think it doesn't work.  
Clara: *is on the ground covering her ears while screaming*  
Undertaker: *laughing in the background* These two are hilarious!

3.

Grell frequently uses the hair color changing trick to her advantage. Eg: avoiding people and overtime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so much for reading this story and all your kindness and support! It really means a lot to me.  
I finally completed this not so serious, rather silly story about our fave Kuroshitsuji reapers. It was really entertaining to come up with such nonsense and I hope you also enjoyed it. My English still needs to improve, I guess, but they say people are lifelong learners.  
If you have any questions or would like to read more about Black Butler, feel free to send me a message. I love chatting about fandoms!


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